The Other Side of Light
by DarkFlameJ
Summary: A strange girl in the streets of Magnolia, hungry and running. Then, she runs into a Fairy Tail mage, literally runs into them. What will happen to this mysterious newcomer when they take her back to the guild hall? And what secrets does she hide?
1. Chapter 1- First Day

The Other Side of Light- Fairy Tail

(I don't own fairy tail or the original characters, just my character and some of the plot) **(A/N: This is my first fan fiction so I hope you like it!)**

Section 1: Beginnings

"Hey get back here!" She heard the man yell, but had no intention of listening. The girl was running to safety wherever that was. 'It's only a piece of bread, it's not like that dude needed it, and his pockets were full of Jewels' she thought as she ran.

When she rounded the corner she slammed into a body. It was a black haired boy who had a confused look on his face as he looked at the girl who had run into him and was now sitting on the ground. He offered his hand to help her up, but she was too fast. She was already halfway down the alley when the boy saw a bulky man running towards him yelling "I'm gonna get you!"

The boy thought the man was coming at him so his reflexes kicked in and unfortunately for the older man, the boy, who looked about eighteen, was a mage. He slammed his fist into the palm of his open hand and yelled "ICE-MAKE, LANCE!" Long spears of ice shot out of the ground, and sent the man flying backwards, unconscious but alive. The mage looked behind him to see an empty ally; there was no sign of the girl.

Seeing something on the ground, he bent over and picked up a piece of bread, 'that girl must have dropped it when she ran into a me' he thought, 'I wonder where she was going in such a hurry, 'cause she looked pretty scared, not to mention weak. She ran into me full force and it barely made me stagger.' Then he walked off to search for the mysterious girl.

~two hours later~

Still walking randomly in the back streets of Magnolia, she pulled up the hood of her black leather jacket and put her hands in the pockets of her old jeans, head down, looking at the ground. 'When was the last time I wasn't hungry?' She wondered, sitting against the side of the ally.

Even though it was midday, the ally was dim. 'Who was that boy I ran into?' She thought, 'When I touched him he was cold,' the sharp hunger in her belly was starting to get to her, making it hard to think straight.

She remembered that the boy from earlier had worn long black jeans, and had a silver necklace with a sword pendent. She remembered his dark black hair that was in floppy spikes, it looked like the color had been taken off of a raven's back. She even remembered the frosty look in his dark eyes, as if he had been lost in thought. The only thing she couldn't remember was what kind of shirt he was wearing.

She was still trying to remember what shirt he was wearing as her vision started to fade from her hunger. At that moment the same boy, with the memory-proof shirt, came around the corner, still looking from the running girl. She could barely lift her eyes to see him coming, he kneeled in front of her and in a gentle voice said, "I'm Gray, I'm gonna take you someplace safe, ok?" She nodded "Can you walk?" She shook her head no. So he picked her up in his arms and started to carry her.

She wondered where he was taking her while she swayed gently with his rhythmic steps, but it didn't matter because something about the boy made her trust him. The last thought in her head before she blacked out was 'Oh, yeah, that's why I couldn't remember what kind of shirt he had on, he isn't wearing one. How weird," and with that the girl was out.

~30 minutes later~

Still carrying the girl, he walked into a large building with letters on the front that read 'Fairy Tail'.

"Hey, Mira, can you help me out for a minute?" He asked the girl behind the counter, she had on a red dress with a pink bow, it was held by a pink strap around her neck, "Sure thing, Gray, what is it?" she asked.

"It's this girl" he said.

"You didn't abduct her right?"

"WHAT?! Why would I do that?!" he almost screeched, having a spaz attack, Mira giggled and he realized that she had been joking.

"I ran into her earlier today, or more of she ran into me. Then, a few hours later, I found her in an ally by the river, and she just passed out."

"My, that's not good. Do you have any idea why?" she wondered aloud. "Not really but if I had to guess... with how light she is, maybe hunger?" he said, laying the still sleeping girl down on one of the benches in the large building.

"Well then, I'll go get some food, you try to wake her up" she said with a smile.

The girl with the hoodie felt someone shaking her gently and heard a voice "Hey, hey, wake up. If you want some food you gotta wake up. Come on you're safe now. Wake up!"

Her light brown eyes flew open, and she bolted upright, almost slamming her face into the boy's forehead.

"Where am I?" she asked, panicking, she stood up, spun in a circle to take in her surroundings and ran to the nearest dark corner. She sat with her knees pulled to her chest not knowing what to make of the situation.

Luckily all of the people had left for the day, so no one noticed the commotion. Gray walked over calmly and sat next to her, telling her, "its ok, you're safe now. I'm Gray. You're in a wizard guild, my guild, called Fairy Tail. No one is going to hurt you here."

At that moment, Mira walked out of a back room carrying a large tray of food. Scanning the room for the strange newcomer, she finally spotted her in the corner and walked over. Placing the tray in front of the girl, she asked "are you hungry? Eat."

Needing no further tempting the girl took a piece of bread off the tray, mumbling thanks, she bit into it. The bread was warm and delicious; she ate the whole thing in less than a minute. Chuckling to herself, the girl with white hair, Mirajane, led the new girl to the nearest table and brought the food with them. She told her she could have as much as she wanted of the food. Mira sat next to the new girl that Gray had found. He was still sitting on the floor watching.

When the famished stranger lead leaned forward to take a bite of a sandwich from the tray, her hood slid off her head, revealing long dark brown hair, pulled into a thick ponytail that was reminiscent of a chocolate waterfall. She had light brown eyes and a light tan brushed her skin.

She would've been beautiful it's not covered with dirt, Mirajane thought. After finishing all of the food and many 'thank you's, the girl leaned back on the bench and Mira left. Gray, finally standing up from the floor, came and sat next to her, asking "so, how do you like it here?"

Confused by his question she replied "It's cool."

"You know this is a magic guild, so all of us here, even though at the moment it's just you, Mira, and I, have magic. So, what about you, do you have any magic?" A faint smirk played across your lips for a second, but quickly vanished, "yeah, I know that, "she shrugged.

"Cool," he said "so, if you want you can join Fairy Tail?"

She looked at him to make sure he was serious, and then thought 'well it's not like I have anywhere else to go. Besides, all of the members I've met so far really nice. And this way I can pay Gray back for saving me.' "Sure!" she said with a grin,

"Great" he responded and ran off to get Mira and the stamp. When they came back Mirajane asked her what color and where she wanted her mark. She decided metallic silver on her right shoulder blade.

"So, what's your name? You never told us." Mira asked.

"Oh I guess I didn't. It's…" she thought for a second, "Ari, you can call me Ari."

"Cool name," Gray said, "so I'm guessing you don't have anywhere to stay, huh?" he asked Ari.

"Not really," she replied.

""It's getting late," Mira stated, "we'll get you a place to stay tomorrow, but tonight you can stay here. Then tomorrow you can meet the rest of the guild." Ari nodded.

"Alright then, see you tomorrow," Gray said while walking towards the door.

"See ya" Ari said.

Mira looked at the girl, held out a hand and said, "Come on, let's get you a shower." The girl looked down at herself wondering how bad she must look to everyone else.

Mirajane led her to a large bathroom in the back of the guild, got her a towel, some new clothes and left so Ari could have some privacy to shower.

~Time skip: 20minutes~

Drying her with a towel, Ari sighed in relaxation. For the first time in a while she was clean, warm and safe. She put on the clothes Mira had brought her. The black jeans fit well, but the shirt was a different story. It was a black tank top with white stripes running down the seams; it was a few sizes too big. Since the shirt was long and baggy, Ari just tucked the ends into her jeans and secured the brown leather belt around her waist. After pulling on the boots black leather boots Mirajane had left for her, she looked at herself in the mirror and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She walked out of the bathroom feeling better then she had in a while.

"Better now?" Mira asked with a smile.

"Very," Ari replied.

"Well I found a pillow and a blanket you can use. Sorry it's not much, there isn't much stuff like this lying around here, it would all get destroyed. You can make yourself comfortable in the guild hall."

Ari raised an eyebrow at the world 'destroyed' but let it pass without questioning, "thanks," she said with a smile.

"Help yourself to any food you want. See you in the morning!" And with a wave Mira left the guild hall, closing the big wooden door behind her.

The entire building was silent as Ari laid out the blanket on one of the benches. 'Well, this has been one of the best days I've had in a while' she thought as she lie down on the blanket, 'I wonder what the rest of the Fairy Tail members will be like. Will they be as nice as Mirajane and Gray? Will they accept me or push me away like others have? Oh! I wonder what the master will be like. What kind of magic powers do they have?' Still thinking, Ari drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**(A/N: Hi, I hope you liked it so far, because you read all the way down here. Tell me what you think on the comments {and other ways there are to tell me that I haven't figured out yet} If you spotted any grammar errors please let me know and I will try to fix it for you. Also, if you have any ideas or suggestions please let me know.**

**-DarkFlameJ)**


	2. Chapter 2- Meeting the Guild

**(A/N: Ari's name is pronounced like you would say car, just drop the c and add an i.)**

~Next morning~

Ari woke up to the sound of the massive door at the entrance of the guild opening. "Good morning Ari. Did you sleep well?" asked a smiling Mirajane.

"I think so," she replied. After about a half hour more people started to come to the guild.

Upon seeing the new-comer they all started to gather around her. Trying to answer all of their questions, Ari was starting to get confused. Mira came over to rescue her, "Everyone this is Ari, she is a new member, she just joined yesterday and is really nice. So don't crowd her."

"Aww, Mira! We were just trying to welcome her," whined one man with a rough voice. He wore a light green shirt that had darker green flowers; he had a weird hairdo that looked like a light brown cylinder sticking out of the front. Ari could tell by looking at him that he used smoke magic.

"I'm Wakaba and this old loser is Macao," he said jerking a thumb at the man standing next to him.

"But he looks the same age as you," Ari said, confused.

"That's because I am," said the other man, Macao, he had slicked back hair that was a dark shade of purple, almost black. He had a white and purple coat on and his face held a friendly smile.

Returning their wide grins she said "I'm Ari, nice to meet you." 'This is so cool, these guys are really nice' she thought. "Well, catch ya later Ari," Wakaba said as he walked off with Macao to sit at another table.

At that moment, the guild doors slammed open with a bang, and a boy, the same height as Gray, walked in. He had spikey pink hair, an open black vest with gold at the edges, and baggy white shorts. He wore sandals and had a scaly white scarf wrapped around his neck, and a strange blue cat was flying around by his shoulder. He looked around and said, "Alright, who wants to fight?" with a toothy smile on his face.

Ari was confused at what this guy wanted, then she noticed the red Fairy Tail mark on his right shoulder. 'This guy is part of Fairy Tail?' she wondered. Then, he walked straight up to her and said, "You must be a new member, welcome to Fairy Tail," he beamed at her and continued, "I'm Natsu Dragneel, and I want to see how strong you are, so fight me!" He looked completely serious but also like he was enjoying himself at the same time.

"Uuhhh…" she was so confused.

"Why would you want to fight a weakling like that newbie?" asked a voice that belonged to a tall boy a few years older than Ari, about nineteen. He had spikey blond hair, grey eyes, a lightning bolt shaped scar over the right one, and huge arm muscles.

His casual, but offensive comment snapped Ari out of her confused stupor, "what did you just say?" She asked with an edge in her voice.

"You heard me right, weakling. I bet you use some lame skill, like pitch magic." He said with a sneer.

"Laxus, be nice," Mira said. "No, I'd like to hear what this electrified jerk has to say" Ari said cutting Mira off.

Everyone started to back away as Ari stood up and Laxus took a step forward. "So, what does it take to prove yourself in this guild" the girl asked squaring off to the blond, obviously challenging him to a fight.

'This might not be the best idea,' she thought, 'he's taller than me, probably at least 100 pounds heavier than me, and from the looks of it it's all muscle. But I don't care, I'm not going to lie down and let him walk over me just because I'm new.' She had a determined look on her face.

The strong dude looked at her with curiosity, "let's go outside and fight it out to show everyone how pathetic you really are" he said. A few people gasped in shock, was the new girl really going to fight Laxus? She looked so determined and confident, but surely she would get beaten to a pulp by the lightning dragon slayer. Wouldn't she?

"Whenever you're ready, Sparky" she taunted him, turning her back and calmly walked out of the still open doors to the big area that looked like it was used for training anyway. What made Laxus even angrier was how calmly she turned her back on him, like he wasn't even a threat. 'It's been a while since anyone acted like this to me' he thought 'but she's hiding something, and I'm going to find out what it is.'

~time skip~

'I'll just beat him up with my fists, I won't use my magic. So they won't look at me like _they_ did, I don't want that to happen again' Ari thought.

Laxus and Ari were getting ready to fight and the whole guild was on the outskirts of the grassy training area. Keeping their distance since they didn't know what was going to happen.

"You ready?" Ari asked.

"Sorry, wha'd ya say, twerp, I fell asleep," Laxus said through a fake yawn. With that, she shot forward to attack the spiky haired man with incredible speed, her fist raised ready to strike...

**(A/N: Hi! Thanks again for reading. That is my attempt at a cliff hanger, but don't worry I will try to update soon. Tell me what you think.**

**-DarkFlameJ)**


	3. Chapter 3- Weakling or Victor?

To the rest of the guild, Ari was a blur, moving so fast that she was a streak of black as she ran at the tall dragon slayer. She looked like Jet, Fairy Tail wizard who used speed skills, even though she used no magic as she ran.

Without holding back at all, she slammed her fist into Laxus's stomach; he doubled over from the blow. He obviously hadn't expected her attack nearly as hard as it was.

Laxus, who now realized that he would have to take this fight seriously, yelled, "LIGHTNING DRANGON FIST!" and swung his fist. A bolt of lightning flew from his hand and hit Ari square in the chest. She flew back a few feet and hit the ground. Barrel rolling on her side, she avoided a blow from Laxus. His fist slammed into the ground where her head had been a second before, leaving the grass blackened from electricity.

"So you're a dragon slayer?" Ari inquired, then added with a smirk, "or a sorry excuse for it." She aimed a kick at his side, but he dodged in time to avoid being hit.

"Yea," he replied, sending another crackling bolt of lightning at his opponent, "what of it?" Dodging, the attack went over her left shoulder and barely missed hitting the guild hall.

"Not much, but are there any others in this guild?" "I AM!" shouted a voice from the crowd, turning to see that it was the pink haired boy from earlier, Natsu. "So are Wendy and Gajeel," he shouted like she knew who those people actually where.

Distracted and just about to reply, Ari felt a searing pain in her left side, in her rib cage. Jumping back, she turned to see that it was Laxus.

"No time for chatting, weakling, you can do that after I put you in the infirmary" Laxus sneered.

"Oh" she said sarcastically, "Is that how you think this is gonna go down?" She rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles, "Well then, let me teach you a lesson in predicting the outcome of fights. Pay close attention cause I'll only teach it once."

The lightning dragon slayer charged her, and she dodged with ease. The rest of the guild was shocked at the boldness of her words. Ducking, dodging, and weaving around his attacks she said, "Even with your magic you won't be able to beat me. I won't even need my magic to beat you so hard you won't call me weak ever again. So, the only one going to the infirmary is your ego and you along with it."

The two mages heard a few 'Oooooh"s and "buuurn" from the audience but elected to ignore them. "Ya know, you talk tough, but can you put your money where your mouth is, or will it be my fist?" Laxus countered, furious at the nerve of this new girl, 'who does this girl think she is?' he thought.

"Well let's get to it and find out" she said with a crooked smile on her lips as she attacked again, with more force than before. Laxus crouched, ready to block her attack as she ran at him head on.

Her right fist was up in the air, and when she was about a yard (or meter) from Laxus, something strange happened. He was so confused; Laxus barely saw what happened next.

Her hand went straight down. She planted her hands on the ground, brought her knees to her chest as her momentum carried her legs over her head. Then she kicked out her legs and they found their mark with painful accuracy. The left hit the blond in the face and the right landed on the side of his chest with a crack. Laxus fell back and Ari used her momentum to get back to her feet.

When they landed, Laxus was out cold and Ari was crouched over him one foot by his head the other by his rib cage under his arm, but not touching him.

Getting up she turned to the rest of the guild she shouted, "Was that clear to all of you? Or do I need to teach someone else a lesson?" The guild just stood there moment, then they all broke out into applause.

She smiled as they started to chant her name. Everyone surrounded her to either pat her on the back or to congratulate her. They swarmed inside, carrying Ari with them and started to party. Or at least that's what it seemed like to Ari, when it was actually just a normal evening for them.

They were laughing, talking, and some like, Natsu and Gray, were fighting. Ari saw a man with long black hair and metal piercings and a little girl with blue hair carrying the still unconscious Laxus somewhere. Mira was leading them through a door in the back of the guild and Ari decided to follow. They, ironically, ended up in the infirmary, where the man and the girl laid Laxus down on one of the white beds.

"Thanks for your help Gajeel," Mira said as he started to walk out, he grunted in reply. He paused at Ari's side and said, "That was some pretty good fighting you did today. And for your question during the fight; there are four dragon slayers in the guild. Including Laxus, the pink haired freak you met earlier, the little blue haired girl, and myself."

Her eyes widened at the fact that there were so many dragon slayers in the guild and none of them even seemed to be related. "So, if you don't mind me asking," Gajeel continued, "What kinda magic do you use?"

"Oh," she said looking down at the floor, "I don't really like to talk about it"

"That's ok, but just remember that you can trust all of us here in Fairy Tail. And even though it might not seem like it, Laxus means well, he just wants the guild to be as strong as possible. If ya ever need someone to talk to, you can come find me," he said placing a hand gently on her shoulder before quietly leaving the infirmary.

She looked over to see the little girl, Wendy, using some sort of healing spell on Laxus. "I didn't hurt him too badly, did I?" Ari asked quietly.

"Not anything to worry about, I'm just putting his broken ribs in the right place so they heal properly" Wendy said with a smile, "He should be fine in a few hours, except for having a few broken ribs and a killer headache. But that's what he gets for being rude to people. I'm Wendy by the way." She extended her hand to the girl standing next to her, who took it and said, "Ari."

"That's a pretty name." Ari didn't say anything, so Wendy went skipping from the room with a giggle. "You could come out and spend some time with the rest of the guild or stay here if you want," Mira said.

"I think I'll stay here until he wakes up, I still want to tell him something" she replied with no emotion.

"Ok then. Is there anything you need before I go?"

"Naw, I'll be good, thanks though"

"Mhm" Mira smiled and walked out of the infirmary to make sure the guild hadn't destroyed itself yet.

Ari sat in one of the chairs next to the bed Laxus was laying on. She stared at his blank, sleeping face and wondered, 'Why was he so rude earlier? Was it really like Gajeel said earlier, and he was just trying to help make the guild as strong as it could be?'

**(A/N: And that was chapter 3! I hope you all enjoyed it. Tell me how I did with the fight scene because I've never written one before. I'll try to type up the next chapter soon, so stay tuned for when Laxus wakes up! ****J**** Have a great rest of your day!**

**-DarkFlameJ)**


	4. Chapter 4- A Warning or a Threat

~An hour and a half later~

Still in the exact same spot, Ari was looking at Laxus's closed eyelids, thinking about what was going on in his head. Then, his whole body went rigid and his eyes shot open. He looked at the ceiling for a minute, obviously going over all of what he remembered from before he was knocked out. A look of realization crossed his face and he slowly turned his head to look at the girl sitting next to him. He seemed confused that the one watching him was the one who had put him in the infirmary in the first place. Neither of them said anything as Laxus sat up and leaned against the head board. They just stared at each other for a while, the brunette with an emotionless face, and the blond growing steadily more agitated.  
Finally, he couldn't bear the tension anymore, "what?" He asked, angry at having to be the one to talk first. Then, to his confusion, Ari burst into giggles.  
He raised an eyebrow, "is something funny?" He asked, irritated.  
"Yeah, it's just that your, your face was getting so red" she said between laugh attacks.  
"Maybe that's because it's annoying to have the weakling staring me down" Laxus said keeping his cool.  
The room went silent again; all traces of humor that had been present a second ago had vanished from her face. In an instant, the whole room darkened to almost black, even though it was midday, it was as if the Sun and lights went out at the same instant. Laxus could barely see the silhouette of the girl who was dressed in black. He saw her get up and lean over him.  
She placed a hand on his chest, right where she had cracked his ribs, and leaned forward, putting her weight on him. She could feel him exhale in pain since her face was so close to his.

She whispered in his ear in a threateningly cold tone, "I thought I had made this clear, but apparently not. You will never call me weak, ever again…" she pushed the heel of her hand harder into his chest. "Never, if you wish to see the light of day in your life again. If you say it, even just once more, I will make sure that you walk in eternal darkness for the rest of your life." In her mind she knew that was a bit harsh, but she was so angry that she could hardly control herself, and what little control she had, was fading fast.

She heard him mumble something and pinned his arm to his side as he shot a bolt of lightning that was intended for her. It blasted through the wall, leaving a hole to the main guild hall where the rest of the guild members were. Laxus still didn't see anything, and he was starting to fear what was going to happen. Through the hole in the wall, all anyone could see was darkness, just black. Loud exclamations from the other mages could be heard, they were also trapped in the darkness.

"Is that clear?" Ari hissed in his ear, pushing so hard on his ribcage it caused him to cough in pain.

"Yeah, I got it," he said through clenched teeth.

The weight on his chest vanished and a few seconds later the lights and Sun were restored, as if nothing had ever happened. Ari was gone, leaving the entire guild looking through the hole in the wall at Laxus, utterly confused, as he just stared back with equal confusion.

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs from the second floor. Laxus got up and stood with the others as a short man came down the steps. He was the size of a little kid, along with white hair and a white beard.

"What just happened, Master?" Mirajane asked the man.

"That, my child, was the answer to a question that the majority of you have probably thought of at one point today," he said grimly. "That was a display of Ari's magic power," gasps and whispers of shock ran through the crowd of mages.

"Calm down now, there's nothing to worry about, but it is now clear why she didn't want to tell anyone what type of magic she used. She has probably been rejected for it before. Ari is a dragon slayer."

"What?" someone in the guild asked. "How is that?" exclaimed another.

"She isn't a dragon slayer like Natsu, or Gajeel, or even Laxus, Ari is a light dragon slayer. It is such a powerful magic, that even wizards who train for many years have destroyed themselves. This type of slayer magic requires a strong body and a stronger mind."

"That was the opposite of light, Gramps" Gray said to the master.

"Quite right, Gray. Let me explain, when someone is the type of dragon slayer that she is, they don't just use the light as Gajeel uses iron. Instead, she controls the light and everything it touches. Earlier, what happened was that she manipulated the light so it didn't spread from the source. So by keeping it in the same spot, darkness took its place, making it as black as a starless night. All because of _someone,_ who provoked her" he said glaring at Laxus.

The scene would have been funny if it had been at a different time; the short guild master glaring at the big, muscled dragon slayer, who was trying (unsuccessfully) to make himself appear smaller while still standing.

"Soooooo, what did do?" Someone asked.

Laxus looked down and scuffed his foot on the ground, "I don't want to talk about it" he said.

"So it was either somethin' bad or somethin' really stupid" Natsu said.

"Shut up" Laxus growled.

"Enough messing around" the master said, loud enough to stop the talking, "we can mess with each other later, but right now, we need to clean up the mess we made. We need to find Ari, split up into search parties and look everywhere. The whole town, by the river, and make sure to check the alleys. Oh, and one more thing, don't engage her alone, she's dangerous. Right now more than ever because she is mad. Go, and bring Ari back here before she hurts anyone in Magnolia, or herself."

Within ten minutes, everyone in the guild was gone, even Mira, only Master Macarov and Laxus remained.

"I'm sorry, Grandfather," Laxus said in a soft tone.

"It's ok, you can make it up by finding her and bringing her back without any… accidents" he said carefully.

"I'll check the forest" the blond replied, all of the earlier softness in his voice now gone. There was a zap of lightning that obscured Laxus from view and when it was gone, a split second later, so was he, leaving only a slight singed smell in the air. Macarov sat down in a chair looking at the front door with a sigh.

**(A/N: Hello my awesome readers, 'tis I, DarkFlameJ. I hope you enjoyed chapter 4 of my story. I will attempt to post the next chapter soon, but before I go, I would just like to say thank you for the reviews I have received so far. I was very surprised because I didn't even expect anyone to read this story. Also, tell me what you what to have in the story and I will put it in if I can, I would love to know what you guys like or would want to read. Until next time, have a great day!**

**-DarkFlameJ)**


	5. Chapter 5- The Search

It had been almost an hour and there was no sign of the light dragon slayer. Macarov was still sitting in the chair looking at the door waiting for something to happen.  
Then, he heard the sound of a boot scuffing the ground, on purpose. He realized he wasn't alone. He didn't even have to turn around to know it was Ari.  
"So you were here the whole time?" He asked calmly.

Ignoring his question she asked, "Did you mean what you said? And how you said it?"

The master just looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"It's like you're tracking a wild animal, a savage beast. Is this how you how you treat your guild members when something happens? I actually thought I might be able to stay here for a while. But I guess you are just like everyone else, everyone except for Kai," her anger could be heard in her voice.

"I didn't even hurt anyone. I could have easily killed Laxus, without using magic, but I didn't. The only one who caused any damage was that numbskull," she was shouting now.

"I just wanted to be a part of something, to be accepted for who I am. I want people to see me like Kai did! I thought Fairy Tail would be different from everywhere else! But it's not!"

She stopped, waiting to see if the man would say anything, he stayed silent. Still breathing heavily from her yelling, she looked at the old man one last time. Then, she pulled up her hood and melted into shadow  
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ari was sitting against the tree in the furthest edge of the forest. Even Laxus would take a while to get that far.

'I'm so stupid,' she thought, 'I should have known better than to give myself hope, even if some of them were really nice. I should have known they would act the same as the others had. I can't even imagine what they would think if they knew...But how could I not have wanted to stay when the guy who brought me asked me like he did...Then there was Mira, she was so nice, all of the time. I felt like she actually cared about me, what does she think of me now after I did that to Laxus? Does she want me to come back?  
Doubt it.  
Does she want me to pay for hurting her guild member?  
Probably.  
Does she think I'm an animal like the guild master does?  
Of course.  
Was it all an act?  
A good act.  
And what about that Iron dragon slayer? He didn't say much, but what he did say was important. And what about when he said I could talk to him without him judging me?  
That was probably a lie too. He probably thinks pretty poorly of me now.'

With a sigh Ari pushed the thoughts from her head and said aloud, "it doesn't matter now, I should just stop worrying about it, it's not like I'm going to see them again. That's how you survive, don't get attached to anyone and do to stay anywhere long. I've learned that lesson twice now."

With that she took a knife out of her boot. It wasn't particularly fancy, more like a dagger then a knife. It had a smooth slightly curved blade; about six inches long and had a black leather bound grip with a white leather cord hanging from the hilt.

She leaned forward, shrugging off her jacket and pulled the right sleeve of her tank top off, exposing the silver mark on her shoulder blade. She raised the blade to the edge of the mark, preparing to cut off the mark along with her ties with the Fairy Tail guild.

**(A/N: sorry this chapter is short guys, but I might be able to get more up soon, because I'm now on summer break! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a comment and if you have any request or idea I would love to hear it! Also, I need a bit of help, if anyone knows how to do that page break thing I would appreciate it if you helped me because I can't figure out how to do it. Have a great day! :)  
-DarkFlameJ**


	6. Chapter 6- Found

**(A/N: I wanted to say thanks to ****electronic-apples****, ****ceceplayz****, and ****BrokenChildOfGlass****for reviewing!)**

She had barely pushed the knife in skin deep when it was snatched from her hands. Gasping in shock, Ari shot up and whirled around to see who it was.

"You know you could really hurt yourself with something like this," said a male voice. Gajeel, the iron dragon slayer was holding her knife.

Ari just stood there in shock thinking, 'How did he find me? And why did he stop me?'

He laughed quietly, sliding the blade into his pocket. He took a step forward and lightly touched the skin next to the shallow cut, "Why would you want to give up something as great as this?" he asked softly, tapping the silver mark on her shoulder.

She stepped out of his reach and pulled her tank top strap back up, covering the mark and cut, "maybe not everyone thinks it is so great" she replied plainly, finally having regained her composure.

The older dragon slayer put his hand on the other's head and leaned down to look into her eyes, "maybe that's because you haven't seen it yet…"

She looked back at him, confused.

"I won't force you to do anything, but I will give you some advice; go back to Fairy Tail. They'll be glad and so will you. That's why they are out looking for you, because they do care."

"No they don't, they're just hunting me because they think I'm going to hurt someone," she mumbled not meting his eyes anymore.

"Even if that is true, it's a very small part of it, they care about the safety of the people of Magnolia, sure. But they care about your safety more; I can assure you of that. They, myself included, want to make sure no one hurts you." He could tell she still didn't believe him so Gajeel continued, "I know right now Gray is worried sick about you, last time I saw Mira she was almost crying. Natsu is even worried in his odd annoying way. And even if he doesn't show it, Laxus cares too… Now that I think of it that might be why he fought you…"

"What?"

"He did it to see how strong you were, to see if he needed to protect you," he paused to let that sink in, then continued, "Then there's Wakaba, Macao, and even Wendy, everyone in the whole guild cares about you, because that's how Fairy Tail works. We are family, and family sticks together."

This sparked a thought in Ari's head, 'mine hasn't.' Instead of voicing this thought, she asked in a soft whisper, "What do you want from me?"

Seeing the sad look on her face, he pulled the girl into his arms for a hug, "I just don't want to see someone as talented as you go down the same path I did." He spoke gently, stroking the girl's hair to calm her. He could feel her trembling in his arms, but she didn't try to escape his grasp, so he took that as a good sign.

"What path is that?" Her trembling voice was barely audible.

Gajeel sighed, "I had been training with this dragon, Metalicana, I guessing you were trained by a dragon too, huh? But either way, one day he just up and left. So, a few bad calls on my part later, I joined the dark guild Phantom Lord…."

"After the battle, Phantom Lord was disbanded and I had nowhere to go. That is until Master Makarov found me and asked me to join Fairy Tail. I asked him why and he explained it like this; just because you have made bad decisions in the past, that doesn't mean you can't make good ones in the future. So that's why I'm here, because Fairy Tail accepted me when no one else would. They helped me and now I'm here to help you, so you can be happy." He let her go and she sat on the forest floor, looking up at him with admiration.

"Do you really want me to stay, nobody else ever seems to want me to," She asked.

He sat in front of the girl about two feet in front of her, "Of course, I do. Would I be here if I didn't? If you decide to come back, I'll make sure no one hurts you again."

"But how do you learn to get stronger if you don't get hurt?" she asked, "That's how I always learned what my weaknesses were."

Gajeel chuckled, "You do it the hard way kid, there is an easier way to get stronger."

"What is it?" she asked eagerly.

He replied, "Come back and I'll tell you some day, that is if you don't figure it out yourself." He stood up, brushed off his pants and offered her a hand up, "what do ya' say?"

Hesitant at first, but then more confidently she took his hand and let him help her up, "Ok, I'll give it another shot, but only if you go with me."

He nodded and picked her jacket off of the ground, shook it off and handed it to her saying, "I'll be right by your side the whole time."

She smiled and they walked back to town, towards the guild.

"You know, I have a spare room in my apartment. If you want to crash there, you're more than welcome to."

Ari looked to make sure he was serious, and upon seeing that he was she replied, "That would be awesome, thank you!" she beamed up at him and the forest started to thin out.

They neared the outskirts of Magnolia and the iron dragon slayer looked down at the nervous girl and reassured her, "everything is going to be fine."

~Time skip 20 minutes (back at the guild hall) ~

Gajeel opened the door for Ari; she walked in and was greeted by a sight she hadn't been expecting at all. It was near silent in the usually loud guild hall, everyone was sitting around depressed. Gray was sitting against a wall with his legs pulled to his chest, head between his knees, and his hands clasped in front of his shins. Mira was bawling into a brawny man who had the same white hair as she did, probably her brother. He rubbed her back mumbling something Ari couldn't quite hear, but she thought she heard the word "manly." There was a soft thudding noise coming from the side of the room. Ari turned to see Laxus hitting his head, repeatedly, against one of the stone pillars.

She could barely stifle a laugh, but instead she said, "Hey, if you keep that up you'll lose what little brain cells you have."

Everyone's heads snapped up to confirm that the voice they heard came from who they thought it did. Gray was up in a flash, followed closely by Mira, they both tackled poor Ari in a hug while the guild hall went up in cheers, which shocked the light dragon slayer.

She could hear Mira say something about being scared for her and Gray mumbled that he had been worried. Then she felt herself, along with Gray and Mira and Gajeel; who had unfortunately been standing a bit too close be lifted into the air. She burst into laughter, seeing that Mira's brother had lifted them all into a hug and he shouted, "GROUP HUGS ARE MANLY!"

Within the next hour everyone in the guild had come up to her saying something along the lines of being happy she was back safe. Everyone that is, except Laxus, who stood at the edge of the group looking uncomfortable. Everything was just starting to calm down when Master Makarov spoke up, "So you decided to come back?"

Ari's whole body stiffened as she faced the man, "Yeah. You got a problem with that?" she asked aggressively.

Gajeel, who hadn't broken his promise to stay by her side, put his hand on her left shoulder to keep her from doing anything she would regret also, to warn her to calm down.

"I'm just glad you came back."

"What? But earlier yo-" he cut her off, "those were all your assumptions. True, I didn't say you were wrong, but I also didn't say that you were right. I test all of my children, that was your test, I wanted to see how you would react."

The girl in black just stared at him with her mouth slightly agape as he chuckled lightly, "Now that you're back safely," he addressed the entire guild, "LETS PAAAAARTYY!"

Once again everyone cheered and the depressed mood was quickly forgotten. Gajeel removed his hand from her shoulder and she looked up at him apologetically, he nodded reassuringly.

While Ari talked to the still emotional Mira, Laxus came over and spoke to Gajeel in a hushed tone. When they were done Gajeel nodded his head and hit the blonde's shoulder playfully. Without saying anything to Ari he started to walk away.

"Hey! Laxus!" Ari called getting up and running after him.

He slowly turned around, an ashamed expression on his face. She stood in front of him for a second, then before Gajeel could stop her, she punched him in the face. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch in shock. A second later, while Laxus was still leaning back from the blow, she wrapped her skinny arms around his torso. He just kind of stood there for a minute with his arms out, as to not touch Ari, since he didn't know how to react to the hit then hug attack.

Finally, he wrapped his arms around her, one on the middle of her back pulling her closer and one behind her head holding it to his shoulder. She spoke in a soft whisper so only he could hear, "I just want you to know I don't mean what I said anymore, but I still would rather that you not call me weak."

Ari hugged him tighter and nestled her nose into the crook of his neck, he could feel a wet spots on his neck, she was crying.

Keeping the hand on her back in the same place, he leaned back slightly and placed his other hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

"Don't cry, please" he looked really uncomfortable, but then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "From now on, if anyone calls you weak or gives you any trouble at all, in the guild or out of it, come to me and I'll straighten them out. Ok?"

She nodded and he let go of her. She unwrapped her arms from him and turned to Gajeel who was trying, very poorly, to stifle a laugh.

"What?" Ari asked.

"Nothin'.., you ready to head out for the night?" He replied avoiding the question.

She turned to look at Laxus but found that he had already disappeared.

"Sure." With that she followed Gajeel back to his apartment.

**(A/N:Guys, this is unprecedented for me... I'm updating both of my stories in one day. Shocker, I know right? Either way I hope you liked the chapter, leave me a comment to tell me what you think or anything you want to have happen in future chapters. I hope my attempt at the emotional scene above had the intended effect, and that I kept them in character. I might have been stretching it a bit with Gajeel, but I can totally see Laxus having no idea what to do with a crying girl who just punched him then hugged him. In case there is any confusion, I feel like Gajeel is kind of a father/ role model to Ari now. Yup, I think that's all for now, thanks for reading!**

**-DarkFlameJ)**


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